The Canadiens drafted the two best available players in 2022, according to Mathias Brunet.

The 2022 draft was very exciting for Canadiens fans. The draft took place in Montreal, and it was an opportunity for Kent Hughes to make his first selections with the Canadiens, who had the very first overall pick.

We can also add that Kent Hughes made a big trade during the draft to acquire Kirby Dach. However, we will focus on the drafted players.

Mathias Brunet conducted a little exercise during his Wednesday segment on Retour des sportifs on BPM Sports by re-ranking the Canadiens players based on their respective drafts.

According to him, the Canadiens did an incredible job in 2022 by acquiring the two best players from this draft in Lane Hutson and Juraj Slafkovsky.

Even though he was selected first overall, Slafkovsky is not considered the best player of this draft class, according to Brunet. It is Hutson who holds the top spot, while the Slovakian ranks second.

Seeing the young defender’s performances this season, it’s easy to understand why Brunet reached this conclusion.

Drafted in the second round (62nd overall), Hutson played two seasons at Boston University before joining the Canadiens. He now has 37 points in just 45 games in the NHL, making him the player with the highest points-per-game average in this draft class (minimum of 10 games played).

Hutson is also capable of logging heavy minutes, even at a very young age. He already averages 22:42 of ice time per game in his rookie season!

For Slafkovsky, the outcome of this ranking by Mathias Brunet is also encouraging. Being surpassed by his teammate, who was not in direct competition for the first pick and who was a surprise, is not the end of the world.

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Brunet is aware that Logan Cooley has better current point production than Slafkovsky, but he believes that when both players reach their full potential, Slafkovsky’s size and playing style will make him a better player than Cooley.

Hutson is not the only Canadiens player who has been « re-ranked » better by Brunet. According to the BPM Sports analyst, Kaiden Guhle is the 10th best player of the 2020 draft, having been selected 16th overall.

Cole Caufield, drafted 15th overall in 2019, is now ranked sixth in his class, and Nick Suzuki, drafted 13th overall in 2017, claims the 8th spot in his draft ranking.

Kent Hughes made excellent decisions in 2022, and the future of Jacob Fowler, also drafted in 2022, could further enhance the quality of this draft for the Canadiens.

In Brief

– Fleury is an angel.

– Speaking of Lane Hutson.

– The Sabres are currently playing good hockey.